I don't know if it's just that my local McDs happens to have good assemblers or something, but the first quarter pounder with cheese I'd gotten in years looked pretty damn good sitting in that cardboard box. And it was farking delicious, especially since I'd just come off a week long stomach flu and had hardly eaten anything during that time.

I am now especially grateful that that store is not open all night, or I'd be in trouble. Fortunately it's the only one in town.

ladyfortuna:I don't know if it's just that my local McDs happens to have good assemblers or something, but the first quarter pounder with cheese I'd gotten in years looked pretty damn good sitting in that cardboard box. And it was farking delicious, especially since I'd just come off a week long stomach flu and had hardly eaten anything during that time.

I am now especially grateful that that store is not open all night, or I'd be in trouble. Fortunately it's the only one in town.

Years ago, I read an article on food ads. I think one of the tricks was using slightly diluted Elmer's Glue instead of milk in the breakfast cereal ads and a bit of olive oil spray to make other foods look "juicier."

EnglishChef PolishInventor GermanHumanitarian:ladyfortuna: I don't know if it's just that my local McDs happens to have good assemblers or something, but the first quarter pounder with cheese I'd gotten in years looked pretty damn good sitting in that cardboard box. And it was farking delicious, especially since I'd just come off a week long stomach flu and had hardly eaten anything during that time.

I am now especially grateful that that store is not open all night, or I'd be in trouble. Fortunately it's the only one in town.

I'd hate to see what your arteries look like.

Did you not see the part where I said first in years? Now that I think about it, probably first in a decade. Mostly I cook at home and include vegetables. The highest my blood pressure reading has ever been was 140 over like 85-90, and that was half an hour after a fight with Lordfortuna...

There's a LOT more manipulation of the food itself than the video shows. I doubt they use the same materials as used in the restaurants. It's common practice to use specially-made buns, undercooked patties, glue, etc. for the sake of cosmetics. They can put all the lipstick on the pig they want, but it's still a McD's burger.

I think Canada (and the US too) requires the food being photographed to be made entirely of standard ingredients you'd find in the actual product. Of course that doesn't mean they have to use the first ones they come across, in the video you can see a large palette of buns, them hand sorting through a huge jar of pickles, and other such things. It's not because they will be making a lot of burgers to take pictures of, but because they will go through the lot finding the absolute best of each ingredient (as far as looks go).

1. Did anyone else read that headline as "burger pimping"?B. Could they have maybe sprung for a nicer vehicle to take her to the studio? You know, instead of the white van which wasn't being used to shoot porn that day?III. What a Kroc. Interesting, but I still can't help but feel that they left something out... Maybe showing someone eating the products in a taste test? Or more fat people? The people in the video are clearly not eating the product that often.

Akambe:There's a LOT more manipulation of the food itself than the video shows. I doubt they use the same materials as used in the restaurants. It's common practice to use specially-made buns, undercooked patties, glue, etc. for the sake of cosmetics. They can put all the lipstick on the pig they want, but it's still a McD's burger.

In the video, you could see the guy cooking the burger, but what you didn't see was him cooking it all the way through. I suspect, like you said, that the pattie was actually undercooked, and therefore plumper than a store-bought burger.

/didn't watch the video all the way through//suspect the food primper would do better with a flaming whopper///rimshot

Aulus:Years ago, I read an article on food ads. I think one of the tricks was using slightly diluted Elmer's Glue instead of milk in the breakfast cereal ads and a bit of olive oil spray to make other foods look "juicier."

For the Campbell's soup ads, they would pour marbles into the bowl before the soup, to keep all the chunky soup bits pushed to the top, making the soup look a bit heartier.

What I found most interesting was the brief glimpse of the patty being prepared. It's clearly not been fully cooked. Instead the outer surfaced is cooked just enough to brown it, while the interior is left uncooked. That gives the patty a much fuller appearance in the final photograph.

I actually kind have to commend McDonald's for releasing this video. They know we know that the photos of the food are not the food we get, and this video does a good job of explaining why that is...and also making you realize that you wouldn't actually want to eat the burger in the photograph. Who wants a burger with all the condiments pushed out to the very edge of one side, with an undercooked patty, that has been sitting out for hours?

I think Canada (and the US too) requires the food being photographed to be made entirely of standard ingredients you'd find in the actual product. Of course that doesn't mean they have to use the first ones they come across, in the video you can see a large palette of buns, them hand sorting through a huge jar of pickles, and other such things. It's not because they will be making a lot of burgers to take pictures of, but because they will go through the lot finding the absolute best of each ingredient (as far as looks go).

Same with frozen meals I believe.

A friend of mine is a professional photographer who does good business photographing food for restaurants. The food is absolutely genuine. Perfect lighting and food stylists (you know: place the lettuce just so, turn the bun this way or that, etc...) go a long way...

They're trying to dispel the myth that the food used in their ads isn't actually food.

Some manufacturers do use fake food in their ads. McDonalds is proving that while they pamper the food used in their ads, the food in their ads is sourced from the same inventory used in restaurant bound products. The food in their ads is not plastic, it is real food that is functionally identical to the food sold in the stores.

It's a smart move. It's a little controversial because corporations are rarely this candid. Because of that, it's getting a lot of attention. They're admitting they gloss their products for ads, but they're being honest about how they do it. People respect honesty. Overall, I think this shows the brand in a good light.

When I want a burger, I schedule a consultation with my local livestock trader, he shows me the grass-fed angus steers he has rest for harvest, and I make arrangements with the local butcher to have 5lbs hand-ground within 48 hours of harvest.

After picking up the beef I head to the bakery for some kaiser buns from organic stone-ground flour.

After grilling, I add a dollop of mustard spread and thick sliced pickled cucumber, and serve with a side of buckeye potatoes cooked in coconut oil.

I am a professional photographer and I can tell you that what they did to that burger was not much compared to some of the things we have done. We always use the real food, but it is primped and pampered and handled so much that you wouldn't dare eat it.We shot some Chinese food once for packaging and our stylist used tweezers to place individual rice grains and tiny carrot bits just so.Having said that, a sugar coated turd is still a turd.

ladyfortuna:I don't know if it's just that my local McDs happens to have good assemblers or something, but the first quarter pounder with cheese I'd gotten in years looked pretty damn good sitting in that cardboard box. And it was farking delicious, especially since I'd just come off a week long stomach flu and had hardly eaten anything during that time.

I am now especially grateful that that store is not open all night, or I'd be in trouble. Fortunately it's the only one in town.

our local fast food venues have also kicked up the presentation. making it look like something you'd want to bite into. wrapping the burgers 3/4 protected with a very thin paper(?).

Things like Ice Cream is often criso or such, because real Ice Cream would melt too fast under studio lights.

That nice roast turkey they show being carved? It was colored on the outside with a brush, and then pre-sliced. They fold back the slice, and "cook" the inside with a carpet steamer. This way, they control the cooking to get it the right color, while adding a lot of moisture to make it look like its juicy. Then they fold the slice flap back up, and then film.

A hot steaming anything usually gets a blast from a steamer right before they turn on the camera.

Most ice cream deserts used in video and print ads are actually Crisco, as ice cream tends to melt rapidly under lights. Crisco is also used in a bowl with flakes put in it "just so" for cereal shots. The burgers I've done have all been browned slightly, then you use a skewer and a blowtorch to make grill marks on them. You can cut a wedge out of the back side so you can open it and move it to fit perfectly on the bun.

I like McDonald's food... I just wish they would clean their tables and their restrooms. There's nothing I love better than going into a McDonald's with a dozen employees working behind the counter/in the kitchen, and yet there are dirty tables in the dining area and it looks like no one has checked the men's room in days.

Oh... and since when did McDonald's stop requiring their cashiers to say something to greet the next customer in line? It's such a wonderful experience to have the cashier just stare at you without uttering a word to acknowledge your presence or indicate their readiness to take your order.

I've seen this kind of nonsense in several McDonald's restaurants spread across several states in the past few years. I guess that proper training -- for employees and management -- must have gone out the window a long time ago. Training costs money, and that cuts into profits I guess. Additionally, McD's corporation must not do surprise inspections or use mystery shoppers, given the state of their stores these days.

Because it's easier to give this response and remain in business than "some 15-year old kid with feces on his hands and a wet hacking cough slapped together items so caked in preservatives that they'd survive a nuclear holocaust."

Seriously. If you're at a point where you're actually eating at McDonald's, and have been conscious of what has been presented about all fast food in the past decade, then the odds are you care little about presentation and nutrition. It should either be a guilty pleasure or dining as the result of severe time limitations.

A local nutritionist has a Big Mac under a glass cover in the front of her office. It looks pretty tasty until you realize that it was purchased early last year.